On Friday, William Fittall, the synod's general secretary, said the matter needed to be dealt with as soon as possible, adding that even opponents of the move must recognise the harm the delay was doing to the church.

A working group was set up by the house of bishops following the defeat of the legislation in November, comprising members from all three synod houses – clergy, bishops and laity. "The working group and the house of bishops are both very clear that they want a process which this time is going to lead to legislation getting the necessary majority," Fittall told a press conference in London.

"One train crash is extremely bad; two would be quite unacceptable."

He added: "I think everybody wants to do this as quickly as possible – in fact even those who are against women becoming bishops in principle know that we are in an unsustainable position and know that it's not terribly helpful to the mission of the church for this debate to roll on and on."

The synod, which meets in York from 5 to 9 July, will dedicate a day to private consultation on the issue of female bishops before debating whether new draft legislation should be introduced at its next gathering in November.

If the proposals are accepted, the synod could give final approval to the introduction of female bishops by mid- to late 2015.

It is acutely aware that failure to move quickly enough on the issue will lead to state intervention. The House of Bishops' recent report on female bishops noted: "Parliament is impatient. None of us on the working group believes parliament should impose a solution on the church of England but the risk of this will grow unless the synod can show that it can make progress, and quickly."